This section is intended to provide a background or context. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
The following abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are defined as follows:                AES advanced encryption standard, an encryption method        ID identifier        NFC near field communication        PIN personal identification number        SHA secure hash algorithm, a hashing algorithm        UE user equipment, such as a mobile station or mobile terminal        WLAN wireless local area network (see IEEE standard 802.11)        
An ad hoc network can be formed when two or more devices move into reach of a communication signal, such as wireless local area network (WLAN) signals, Bluetooth signals, and other widely available direct communication technologies for example. Thus, wireless communications between mobile devices can be used to exchange information without relying on an existing infrastructure, such as cell networks or Internet services. The ad hoc network may use low-power radio communication so that the network can be used to continuously communicate with encountered devices in the background without having a large impact on the battery life. As the throughput of the network is limited, the protocols may be designed to minimize the amount of traffic. Some ad hoc networks can have a range that extends beyond the range of a single device by using a multi-hop mobile ad hoc network, where other devices participate in forwarding traffic within the network.